


Anchored

by mneiai



Series: Season 8 Is A Mess And I'm Trying To Deal [4]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: 8x04 The Last of the Starks, Episode: 8x05 The Bells, F/M, Fix-It, Not Beta Read, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 13:25:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18811798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mneiai/pseuds/mneiai
Summary: Jon flies on Rhaegal beside Dany at the battle to take King's Landing.





	Anchored

**Author's Note:**

> AU for "what if medieval artillery on floating ships didn't have perfect aim when shooting at moving targets high in the sky" and/or "what if Dany and the dragons actually looked around while flying" and/or "what if riderless dragons could dodge shit".

Jon flew up, over the city. It was breathtaking. He couldn't have imagined such a space, with so many people, on his own. When they spoke of King's Landing, of its population, when he looked over the maps of it, it wasn't the same as _seeing_ it.

Drogon shot forward beside him and he shook off his distraction--just because they'd taken out the artillery on the Red Keep didn't mean there weren't dangers ahead. 

They separated again, to opposite sides of the city walls, burning through Cersei's forces. There was something exhilarating about being on dragonback. He'd feel guilty about it later, tonight probably when he was alone in some too-fancy room in the Keep, but for now he felt like a god. Like no one but he and Daenerys mattered in the world.

He could see their forces beginning to flow through the city gates towards the Keep and--there. The bells tolling. The Lannister army, the remaining Gold Cloaks, the Golden Company, they'd be lowering their weapons and surrendering. 

Flying to where Drogon rested, he grinned at Dany. It took her a long moment to even acknowledge him, but when she did she grinned back. He was too far away to see if it was strained, but he knew that she felt the exhilaration of riding even more strongly than he did.

He motioned to an open square, empty of people though he could see some of the Unsullied making their way through the streets nearby. It just fit Rhaegal and Drogon, both dragons taking the opportunity to rest after the acrobatics they'd needed to perform against the Iron Fleet and the amount of fire they'd had to rain down on their enemies.

"We won!" he shouted as he slid off of Rhaegal, going to help her from Drogon's back.

She threw her arms around him, though there was a frown on her face. "Not yet. Cersei is still there."

"And we'll get her. Her army, what's left of it, has surrendered. We burnt down the gates barring our forces from the Keep. Soon we'll have her."

"We should just fly up there and burn her out."

His arms tightened around her and he pressed his cheek to her hair. She smelt of leather, mail, and fire. Of brimstone and reptile. He knew he must smell the same.

"So many bad things have happened in that building. So many people have died, have been hurt...but that's not the fault of the building. Or of the servants within it, or the smallfolk who sought refuge there when the fighting started." Remembering her temper, her rage, before they left Dragonstone, he added, "It was built by our ancestor, it's the seat of our family's power. You deserve the Iron Throne, Dany, and the Red Keep intact for you, and your children, to live in."

"Our children," she murmured, and Jon squeezed his eyes shut against the odd feelings of _want_ and _disgust_ that thought caused. 

***

It did not take more than a few hours for the entirety of King's Landing to fall to them. Cersei had been found making her escape through the underground passages, having stopped and refused to leave Jaime's body where it had fallen. She was dragged before the Iron Throne where Daenerys sat.

The throne was hideous, the throne room barren as her forces had hastily pulled down most of the signs of Baratheon and Lannister rule, but Jon couldn't help but think Daenerys looked magnificent.

Maybe what she'd always said was true. Maybe she was _meant_ to sit in that throne.

The trial was not much of one, no one needed convinced that Cersei was a criminal, and Drogon and Rhaegal made short work of her.

Jon thought he should care more about that--someone being burnt to a crisp in the Red Keep should make him think of his grandfather Rickard, surely--but instead he just felt the brush of Rhaegal's presence in his mind and a feeling of rightness with it.

Daenerys stood, drawing people's attention back from the dragons.

"This is the beginning of a new era! Together, we have defeated the forces of the Night King and saved Westeros from the army of the dead! Together we have overthrown the Mad Queen Cersei Lannister!" Most of those present in the throne room were Daenerys', though there were a few remnants of the Northern and Vale forces present, and they cheered wildly. "And together we will rebuild Westeros and usher in a golden age!"

The servants that had remained had brought drinks and platters of food, which where shared throughout the Keep and soon people broke off to eat, rest, and prepare for the long process of putting the Seven Kingdoms back to rights.

Daenerys refused to use the rooms that Cersei had occupied, but there were enough to find one that wasn't covered in Lannister red and gold. She pulled Jon along with her through to the bedroom and ordered him to strip and wash up as best he could with clothes and a basin of warm water as she did the same.

"We're sending for the remaining high lords and other prominent ones," she said, hurriedly, as if wanting to get the information out and done with as soon as she could. "They will swear fealty to me. And once they have, once I have the Seven Kingdoms...we shall be wed."

Jon almost dropped the cloth, standing there stripped down to his small clothes, streaked still with soot. "What?"

"Varys and Sansa," she said the names with such disdain that Jon flinched, "thought to hurt me by spreading the truth of your identity around. But sooner or later people would question it--you are a dragonrider, there is no denying that. So we will marry and then claims won't matter. We will be united."

His mouth opened and closed, his eyelids fluttering, as he tried to work out how to respond to that. She didn't wait, taking his hand and pulling him towards the bed.

"I'm exhausted. I feel like I haven't been able to sleep since...."

Missandei, she didn't say, though Jon knew it was still on her mind. "I know." He laid down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. This was about comfort, not sex, and perhaps all that he was able to give her for now. "She's been avenged, Dany. Your...our family has been avenged. You can rest."

She took a deep, shuddering breath, and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. For a moment, the room was silent except for their breathing and faint noises from outside. Then her breath hitched, her body shook, and he felt tears beginning to spill against his skin.

"It's alright," he whispered, pressing kisses to her hair. "It's alright to cry. It's alright to grieve. You've done so much, Dany, you've been through so much. But you don't always have to be strong. Not with me."

"I miss her so much."

He thought of seeing Rickon killed before him and pulled her closer yet. "And you always will. All we can do is live our lives in a way to make the people we've lost proud of us. In a way to honor the sacrifices they have made."

Jon closed his eyes, rubbing circles over her back, and felt tears he hadn't realized were so close to spilling slide down his own cheeks. 

"I love you, Dany, and I'm here for you. Always."

She shifted, pulling away slightly so she could see his face. With a trembling hand, she cupped his cheek and gave a sad smile. "I love you, too. I don't know what I would have done, what I could have become, if you weren't flying beside me today. For a moment, all I felt was...hate. What right did they have to surrender, when they killed so many innocents? What right did these people have, when they'd sat comfortable behind their city walls as we fought the dead for all of them?"

"Dany--"

"No, I know," her voice broke on a sob. "I just...I just want you to know how much you mean to me. How much I need you."

He was at a loss for how to respond to that, but thankfully she didn't seem to need any. She pressed her lips to his in a chaste, tired kiss, then laid down once more. 

"Tomorrow is a new day," she whispered, eyes closing. "And we'll figure it all out. Together."

**Author's Note:**

> So, like, if not obvious, the basic premise difference is that since Jon was on Rhaegal, he was able to get close enough to Dany to distract her before she "snapped" and started...murdering prisoners and civilians for no good reason.


End file.
